


marioneta

by saucefx



Category: Colorless (Webcomic)
Genre: Angst, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-19
Updated: 2020-03-05
Packaged: 2021-04-03 17:15:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21486961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saucefx/pseuds/saucefx
Summary: The circus inside of Joki's head is a dark carnival made out of pinks and blues. One minute he's playing 'the floor is lava', the next, he's sewing back on his own head.Andromeda did something to him. The cord went taught, the tension snapped, and now Joki is in line to be the next Aisho queen.It's kind of a pain that Ace has to kill the cute idiot who stabbed him twice, though.
Relationships: Ace/Joki (Colorless), Hazel Corazones/Jack Spades
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30





	1. Chapter 1

“Hey. Hey asshole. Get up.”

Joki starts when he feels someone punch his calf, and struggles against the chains on his wrists. When he directs his blurred vision towards his hands, it takes a moment to process the sight of swirling stars. They feel cold, dripping down from where the manacles are clasped on his forearms. 

Someone slaps his leg again.

His head snaps up, rushing with blood as his brain struggles to adjust. It takes a moment to place the figure wearing clothes before him, and Joki can’t help himself from flinching away despite the lack of the ghoulish mask on Ace’s face. 

Ace scoffs and rests his hand on his side, the spot where dark blood has soaked through his shirt. He looks shorter than he did before, but maybe it’s because Joki’s head is spinning, or because his torso aches. The blood on his hand glints in the dark. Ace’s dark eyes stare at him, accusing. Joki feels his lips mouth a silent name. 

The eyes flick away as Ace’s voice takes on a quieter tone. 

“Yeah, it’s me. I almost wasn’t strong enough to make my way down here, but my buddies cleared a path. They went back to grab Haz- Uh… Our other friend. We’re not sure what happened to you, but it looks like the queen is gone, and you don’t look dead.”

“You think?” Joki mumbles. The chill feels like it’s clawing its way into his bones. It takes more effort than usual to move his lips, and short, frosty breaths puff their way through his teeth.

Ace’s face screws up like he was just stabbed for a second time. His eyebrows furrow, and Joki shudders when he remembers the vicious expression Ace was wearing when he shoved him into the well. 

“-Wait! Wait. I’m sorry. Get me out of here, please. I’m not trying to be a dick.” 

If anything, Ace’s confused expression is somehow worse judging by the way his mouth forms a small ‘o’ of surprise. His hands come up, not in defense, but to steady Joki’s arms. 

Joki hadn’t realized the shaking was that obvious. 

“Woah, Hey there buddy. Slow down. You’re gonna be alright,” His voice is higher pitched now, fingers curling on the ends of Joki’s jacket sleeves. “I don’t know what the fuck these are, but I’ll- Oh.”

Ace falls silent, and it does nothing to quench the clenching of Joki’s stomach.

“What?”

“They’re coming off.”

His head snaps to look, and his vision blurs for a moment with the sudden move. Swaying on his feet, Joki stares in horror as the glitter begins to flake off from the manacles and burrow into his arms. 

“Jesus Christ!”

Joki yanks his hands back and the nausea intensifies. The shiny specks gush out from the creases where the metal meets his arms, the touch of which is so cold it begins to burn. Dark blue dust sinks into the skin of his wrist, lighting up the flow of his veins despite Ace’s furtive hands. 

“What the fuck? Is this shit going inside of you?!”

It crumbles off into plaster-like pieces, which then proceed to burrow and distribute through Joki’s bones. The process leaves a thin, powder residue which dusts the small hairs up his arm. 

His arms themselves burn. The top of his neck burns. Joki remembers it now, his head sinking through the pink sludge down into a soft sea of weeds. Teeth clenched, blood pooled, eyes unseeing. His body remembers, and it jerks in place like a fish on a line- like a man being electrocuted. 

Ace is yelling, but all Joki sees is the green monster in front of him, green tendrils stretched out and reaching to either side as it readies its gaping maw. The girl in front of him who looks like Russu has her teeth bared in a smile. He doesn’t know why she’s so happy. He’s dangling. Suspended in midair. 

His body spasms, there’s a noise like a rubber band snapping, and Joki collapses to the floor. Rings from the chains clatter as they fall around him, but the manacles are gone. Each one assaults his ears with the force of a battering ram. 

Clink. Clink clink. Clinkclinkclinkclinkclink. 

His blood surges, there’s a painful squeeze of his heart, and he doubles over as tension spreads throughout his body. Joki is a wheel in motion, an active volcano, a ticking time bomb. A cool wave of air combs through his hair, causing Joki to once again shiver. He can feel his brain throbbing. 

Diamonds bleed through the backs of his eyes, like a child staring at the sun for too long.


	2. Chapter 2

The new Queen of Aisho sits on a throne of grins, they say.

His jaw and neck smeared with different colors, and his clothes are loose and baggy. The Queen made his first appearance wearing a mask, one which hasn’t come off on camera.

Ace watched the coronation on the TV while Jack dresses his many bandages, jaw clenched hard enough to bite through brick and stone. His head never stops aching, not to mention the ever-healing stab wound on his right side, which prickles at the gentle brush of Jack’s hands

Their TV is small and shitty, but it gets the job done. Hazel, for once, is silent as the The Queen spins in his colorful robes, and ascends the steps to his makeshift throne. Ace has never seen a crowd look so feverous, their hands stretched up for just a brief touch of His Majesty’s cloak.

A ceiling of fireworks crackles over the masses, and the cape along with additional garments are shed- a change in costume!- and Ace understands the sharp inhale that Jack takes.

Joki makes a true queen of Aisho, the city built on entertainment and human-killing, and blood. He walks with a confident saunter, lingering from side-to-side as he shakes hands with members of the crowd. It’s impossible for Ace to tear his gaze away, especially with the image of that leering mask on screen.

“Why does he look like a clown.” Ace bites out, but even Andy looks solemn. Damn, did Hazel eyes always look that cold and resigned?

After a week, Ace’s small (and only) family has exhausted the last of their supplies. Hazel has been getting more and more reckless, despite the fact that human hunting has evolved into public executions. These are, of course, televised.

Ace watched the first one, which made Jack kick up a fuss and usher Andy out of the room. He stared at the screen as Joki lounged on the black throne, expression censored by the harlequin mask. The human victim, a teenager surely, shrieked and writhed as they tarred her with thick globs of glitter and feathery scarves.

She went down like a sack, drowning in colored powder and beads until two executioners dragged her to her feet and wrung the noose around her thin neck.

The animated danced, they laughed, and Joki himself made the gesture that cued the floor to drop out beneath the girl. Like a Christmas ornament, she hung.

Ace turned the TV off and put his head in his hands.

He lays awake at night while Jack whispers furiously to Hazel, and Andy lurks outside their door. Always desperate for answers, that one. Meanwhile, Ace can’t look away from his hand where it lays on the soft flannel sheets. He wonders if he’ll be able to sleep. He wonders if Joki sleeps in a bed made for Queens. He wonders.

The glow-in-the-dark stars on his ceiling serve as a stark contrast against the polaroid pictures that smother his walls. Most are in black and white, but there’s a colorful flock of origami cranes scattered all over his things.

Jack was the one who gave him the camera for what they denoted was Ace’s birthday. Months don’t matter anymore, but Andy has been drawing new calendars nonetheless. Another one of their small attempts at normalcy. There’s a pile of dirty black jeans slumped over on his chair, but Ace can’t muster up the energy to move them to the communal hamper.

(It’s probably not his turn to do laundry, anyways.)

“Ace! Do the fucking laundry!” Hazel shouts, and he buries himself deeper under his heavy comforter.

This solitude only lasts for about a minute or so before the cover is yanked back, and he’s met with Jack’s disapproving face.

“Things may be bad, but you need to do your chores.”

Ace sits up with a grunt and a mutter.

“Right, clean clothes fills empty stomachs.” It comes out bitter, too bitter since Jack has legitimate reasons not to let Ace out of the house.

Still, it doesn’t matter that he’s injured or that he royally fucked their last scavenging venture. Ace misses leaving the house. He’s tired of watching Andy try to make cupcakes with not enough sugar, tired of waiting for Hazel to get back, tired of lounging around.

There are twelve cracks on the walls in his room, and Ace despises the fact that he’s had enough time to double-check them all. Usually he can’t keep still, but it was impossible to move around too much while his side was in such a sorry state.

Walking is alright for now, but Jack doesn’t want to risk him running. He’s been watching the door like a hawk, as if Ace wants to sneak out and steal supplies just because Hazel is.

Hazel isn’t even that good at it. She’s just as reckless as Ace, just more violent. And now he’s sitting himself up and staring at the door again. Jack has already left his room- is rubbing his temples in the middle of the hall. Poor guy is probably getting a killer migraine again. The timing is perfect.

“Hey Jack,” Ace starts, casual as ever. “You look like shit, why don’t you go lay down?”

Jack shoots him a scowl and shakes his head, walking away from the open doorway. Still, his door is shut when Ace ventures out into the hall. His socked feet are silent on the carpet, and it only takes a couple of minutes to figure out where Jack hid his combat boots.

Damn Jack for trying to mother him, it isn’t like he doesn’t complain about what Ace is up to every three seconds.

Tugging the boots from the bottom cabinet, Ace carries them back to his room to lace them up. Hazel is leaving her and Jack’s room as soon as he’s stepping in, and he’s quick to hide them behind the door frame.

“I’m not kidding.” She says, with a blank smile. “Wash the clothes before I’m back tonight, or I’ll end you.”

“Yeah, yeah. Never gets any less scary.” Ace shuts his door and locks it before he turns to pull on his shoes. They’ve only been on for a minute before he’s zipping up a jacket and tugging a beanie down to cover the tips of his ears. Shoes. Jacket. Mask. Backpack. Check.

With the stealth of a bank robber conducting a heist, Ace eases the glass of his window up pane by pane. His side twinges when he slides out and drops down to the ground, but he ignores it to take a breath of fresh air.

The sun has long since dipped under the horizon, and the sight of shadows hunched by the bus gives Ace a flash of anxiety. Right, riding the bus. With a bunch of Animated.

Still, the only alternative is to wait for Hazel to save their asses, which is no alternative at all as far as Ace is concerned. He knows how much they all eat, and there’s no way one person can steal enough to keep them afloat. Besides, scavenging is his job anyways.

His shoes crunch on the wet gravel as he approaches the figures, not at all soothed by the realization that they are supposed to be a mother and her kid. The child gives him a pointy smile, and he inclines his head in acknowledgement before he ignores the two.

It begins to sprinkle again as they wait, and Ace is glad for the mask and beanie. His jeans, however, are becoming gross. Headlights shine a distant ways away on the glistening street, and Ace taps his fingers against where his phone rests in his pocket as he waits. The door to step inside looks like a big toothy maul.

Not seeing any other options, or any hesitation from the Animated mother and her child, Ace follows them in.

It’s a cozy interior, modern, with screens on the walls and plush seats. The trip into the populated part of the city takes a while, perhaps due to the drizzling rain. There’s a lot more animated wandering around than before, and it makes a strange feeling well up in the pit of Ace’s chest.

He gets off at the third stop, at a convenience store that looks like it’s bustling. Hands shoved into his pockets, Ace shuffles inside and heads to the canned food. It takes a bit of wandering before he’s in an aisle alone, and he triple checks that there are no cameras before un-shouldering his bag. Cans go in, a couple rolls of toilet paper and a box of pads.

He gets his bag in place just as two Animated round the corner. One nudges the other and laughs and Ace pretends to inspect a bag of something as they pass him by. He wipes a bead of sweat off his neck. Safe.

This isn’t his first rodeo, Ace knows to take his time wandering the clothes section for a little while before attempting to exist. Nobody gives him a second glance when he walks out, and he heads down a couple of streets before allowing his shoulders to relax.

“Yo!” A voice shouts, and he fails to stop a flinch from racking through his body. Ace turns and points at himself in question.

A couple of Animated are plastered on the wall by what looks like the entrance to a club, cheeks flushed green as they wave him to come over. His feet stay locked in place.

“C’mon cutie, you wanna dance?”

A wave of disgust rolls through his body, and Ace takes a moment too long to gather his nerves before calling back. “No thanks, I’ve got my own party to get to!”

They chorus ‘boo’s which follow him for the next few blocks, and his nails dig into his palms. Aisho, the city of entertainment. No self-respecting Animated here would turn down party invitations. Ace is disturbed by how out of practice he is, by how easily he almost gave up the ruse.

He waits by the next bus stop he finds, shutting his eyes to mute the swell of bodies around him, and prays for it to arrive soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me again, i'm still on my bullshit. 
> 
> this universe is lovely and i'm gonna allow my imagination to run wild
> 
> lemme know if you enjoy!


	3. Chapter 3

Joki’s memories went missing on a warm summer day.

At least, it feels like summer to him when he’s sitting outside with Kirous, doing colorful shots underneath the shade of a tree. They slide with ease down his throat, despite the fact that they’re bright pink. It fizzes, instead of the usual sting.

Alcohol is better in this world.

Kirous tilts his head and gives an encouraging smile, so he tips his glass up to finish the rest. Joki makes a note of the way that the sharp, dark sclera of Kirous’ eyes pinpoint his tongue as it slides along the rim. 

“So if I become your queen, then I can see her again?”

Joki is, of course, talking about his mom. Kirous was quite interested to know who he kept asking for, after all. Joki remembers waking up in the hospital, a big fish, and having a knife fight with some lunatic, if it could even be called that.

He remembers stealing snacks from a store and then… Nothing. Nada.

“Of course. Eventually.”

Kirous was in the room when he woke up, eyes wide with concern, his assistants at his elbow and sighing with relief when they noticed Joki shifting in bed. They told him he passed out, that he had deposed an evil queen, that all of her citizens had wanted the hero to take her place.

A tendril of pleasure curled in his stomach, even when Joki stared when he saw his own pinkyellow eyes in the mirror. Kirous told him to expect changes, with his body, with his moods, and even his reactions. Joki kept his mouth shut and nodded. It was the least he could do not to complain after all the Animated had done for him.

Everything felt brighter, to the point where it was difficult to concentrate on what one person was saying. Once, on Earth (Joki wondered if this was also still technically Earth), Russu extorted him for money and got her hands on some party drugs. This felt similar— All heightened impulses and senses.

Ever since he agreed to take the job, Kirous had led him around on a non-stop party tour. Drinking and dancing and fucking and drinking again. Waking up in sheets more expensive than his university tuition and letting creatures play with his hair, drape him with clothes, and draw silly shapes on his face. If this place had Major League Baseball, it would be perfect, really.

And then Kirous made him the official Queen, and things got even crazier. 

Missing spaces of time. Waking up in the sheets with a stranger or holding a microphone or even taking a bath. Joki found himself coming into awareness at the most bizarre parts of his day. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to care.

He got excited, more excited than he had been in years, in his whole life maybe. Episodes of mania, flipping tables and singing and kissing his guards out of total excitement. The press ate it up, his subjects ate it up, and whenever he got angry, Kirous was always there with another glass of bougie champagne in his hand. 

Joki fucked Kirous. Or rather, he let Kirous slam him back against a wall as he questioned his sexuality and watched as he sucked Joki’s dick so well he cried. Pinned his arms above his head and kissed him over and over until he was dizzy and everything was tilting like the film of the sun over a lense before there was a hand down the back of his pants and everything stopped mattering.

They fell into bed together on occasion, parted as mutual friends. Kirous never asked to stay the night, and Joki had no interest cuddling. He was too busy thinking about what to wear to his next party. How to incapacitate dangerous humans still lurking around town.

“You’re not a human anymore, my Queen.” Kirous told him, sliding him a sly smile over dinner. It wasn’t often that they stayed in, but Joki noticed a blueish patch on his skin, and wanted it to first get checked out. 

“So I’m an Animated?”

Kirous nodded. “You will be. Soon. But don’t worry about that, you’re better off with us, and I need you to be as happy and relaxed as a queen should be.”

Joki opened his mouth to protest, but he found himself at a loss for words. What was it Kirous had promised him again? To see someone? Sometimes, Joki found himself staring at women on the street, or shedding tears at sappy family movies. 

“C’mere.” And he was being pulled into Kirous’s lap, letting the man scrape his teeth up the hollow of his throat and along the line of his jaw. 

It became routine, instead of just going along with the activities of the day. It became business as usual, as Joki began to stop wondering what came before. 

He supervised an execution, and decided to make it a little more exciting. He began stepping out into the spotlight, nudged forwards by Kirous, and decided to have fun with the whole thing. 

“I’m the Queen.” Joki says to himself one night, touching the creeping blue skin on his face as he begins to look in the mirror. It’s almost entirely covered now, and the sight only brings him joy. 

Finally, he’s beginning to look the part. Finally, he looks like his people do.

There’s a knock at the door.

“Your Majesty, we’ve just received word that another human has been captured.” 

Without hesitation, Joki flings the door wide open, and grins at his guard’s look of surprise. 

“Great! Why don’t you bring them to my quarters, and I’ll schedule the execution after I get a nice long look at their face.”

“As you wish,” The guard mumbles, keeping their eyes averted from Joki’s very naked self. There’s a bit of a flush on their cheeks, and Joki decides to make a note of it, despite the ring resting on their left hand.

He turns without a response, confident in a way he has never felt before as he heads towards an already-drawn bath and allows himself to sink down into the bubbles and foam. An attendant pours him a full glass of wine, and Joki gives her a wide smile before waving her away so that he can think.

The day has just begun, after all, and he’s never gotten to plan a sunset beheading. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiya
> 
> i subscribed to the patreon and wow, ace sure is horny! so i decided to ramp up the level of this fic too. it might not seem like a cohesive plot yet, but i write these in-between schoolwork in my spare time, so lend me your patience and i'll give me your time.
> 
> <3


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